The Ladoroth
"Some say the promised land lies behind those gates. Some say the gods live there. And Some say that the source of all magic is guarded in that secret vale. All I know is that every decade or so, one of those damn hell-beasts comes rampaging up a storm out those pale doors and only death follows." -Kijo, a merchant of Vahastria 1077 A.R. Down south beyond the high doors of the Godsguard Gates and shrouded by the encircling peaks of the Helseraphi Mountains is the land of Ladoroth. Little is known about Ladoroth but it is assumed to be a place beyond mortal understanding for since the dawn of recorded history the giant gates of the Godsguard have remained closed to all outsiders and have opened only to on occasion release terrifying monsters of epic proportions and destructive capabilities. History records the fall of the ancient Roldaeran Empire due to the first opening of the Godsguard. Some say the great beings are punishments sent by the gods to bring low the hubris of men and mortals. Some believe they are the gods themselves. Only speculation, myth, and fear comes about from the Ladoroth, as entire cities and nations have been wiped out from the destructive power of the Ladoroth. Vahastria is the last remaining city south of the Sandsea that has repeatedly resisted and endured so close to the Talneth and the Godsguard. However, no civilized realm is safe when those white doors open, as disaster goes where it is least expected, even to the far northern reaches of Marnsmede and the World's End Peaks. The Godsguard Gates themselves stand over fifty feet tall and two slightly shorter animated constructs watch over them. Entire armies have broken against the gate and its giant guardians. Airships are of no use to fly over as the all the lands around the Helseraphi Mountains, including the Talneth, make aerocite (the crystals used to keep airships afloat) become fatally unstable. It is rumored that the Rhinavarian Empire is currently developing technology to fly airships without aerocite for use in besieging the Ladoroth lands. Recorded Ladoroth Numerous Ladoroth have been reported throughout history. None of them have been defeated and each has returned to their homeland after their seemingly purposeless mayhem has been unleashed. The people of Vahastria swear that the Ladoroth are far more numerous than those listed and although each is unique, they are known to all be harbringers of death and suffering. Malhria the Blind Fury She takes on the form of a centaur-like giant without arms but large white wings where her arms would be protrude from her shoulders. Her eyes are covered by a great metal band but the gusts of wind she summons with her wings, the trampling she causes with her feet, and the sound-shattering shrieks of her screams can cause the ground to quake, to lift trees from their roots, and to collapse entire keeps. Malhria's shouts are painfully unintelligible, if not entirely animalistic in nature. Those that worship Malhria typically will blind themselves if not already blind. Many view her as a protector of the natural order and that her blindness is attributed to the belief that nature is unbiased and uncontrolled. Followers of Malhria have a deep respect for the brave and those that act quickly and with passion. Hamazt the Shapeshifter Legend has it that Hamazt is the father of all doppelgangers and other shapeshifting anomalities. Whether or not these legends are true however, Hamazt always presents an unpredictable challenge to the already enigmatic Ladoroth threat. No one knows of Hamazt's true form but no matter what he appears as, be it a great sea monster, a humanoid, or even another Ladoroth, he retains a horrid voice unlike anything a natural beast would utter. His words are of no known language but it is clear that he is speaking and not simply making random noises as his language has a form and pattern, even if the purpose and methods of that pattern are next to nonsense. Rarely forming congregations, the followers of Hamazt generally carry out the will of their god alone, for although not considered wholly evil, the great Shapeshifter is not known for his cooperative nature. Worshippers of Hamazt love riddles, puzzles, plots, and disguises. Many assassins pray to Hamazt before taking on a mission that requires severe tact. Some of the most devout followers of Hamazt will seek to emulate the Ladoroth by wearing many different masks or disguises, be them convincing or simply obscuring. Extreme cases are reported of individuals that will literally wear different masks of faces in order to appear as others. Farim the Judgemaster Floating on a great silvery wheel and wielding a mighty spear is Farim. The giant is adorned in magnificent plate armor of epic proportions and his spear fires blue bolts of devestating lightning. He is known as the Judgemaster because of his occasion to fly over an entire city and to strike down clearly select individuals. It is said that there is no greater curse than to be hunted by Farim, as his spear, known as Verus, has never missed its mark. Farim is the least likely to wipe out entire towns and the like and although rightfully feared, he is often respected by the people of Crestas that sometimes view his strikes as divine intervention against individuals that have angered the gods. However none know for certain that his individual hunts are carried out with a set purpose. It is rumored that when Farim is released, the condemned he searches for always know that they are being hunted. Of the Ladoroth, Farim is the most widely accepted god to worship. His temples in Tyr Vaktmar are truly marvels to behold, decorated in great silvers and ivories and corals. Those that hold Farim in their hearts usually believe in divine intervention and that no deeds go unwatched. Good deeds bring blessings and joys, while evil deeds bring death and the judgment of Farim. Yulne the Weeping She takes the form of an elven woman of normal proportions with wintery garb and white hair. Although not as directly destructive as some Ladoroth, like Irathemous or Malhria, Yulne has brought just as many deaths on the people of Crestas. She is dumb to any language known to the tongues of man, elf, dwarf, or any other race and only speaks in tears. Wherever she goes only disease and poor harvest follows. The plants cease to take in water or light. The trees wither and turn black. The sun itself is said to turn a sickly pale white when she is around and nothing shines under the dimmed star. And with a simple touch of her hand an individual is turned to stone. Strangely enough, many merchants try to sell supposed "tears of Yulne" in vials and claim that the liquid can cure any illness. Zia the Chimera Queen Sometimes called the "mother of chaos", she is one of the most vile and destructive Ladoroths known. She is gigantic with mutated limbs, a scorpion tail protruding from behind her, spines on her back, black feathers streaming down her arms, and abysmal orbs of utter darkness for eyes. She breathes chaos and madness into the hearts of men and women and when threatened she lashes out with a fury known to warp her surroundings with terrifying elder magic. It is said that any who look her directly in the eye are instantly turned insane--blessed with the knowledge of the old gods yet cursed to madness all the same. Irathemous the Wroth Irathemous is pure and unchecked rage. He is a red skinned giant with hands only for pounding and smashing. Whenever he is released he brings down unmatched wrath and becomes only more angry and destructive the more he destroys. It is clear from his expressions and shouts that he is in great pain, as his large ears and head seemingly throb with an unidentified ache. Some believe that Irathemous is the souce of all frustration within individuals. Oratyr the Beast Unique to the other known Ladoroth, Oratyr has never once returned to the Godsguard Gates since his first release during 653 A.R. (After Roldaera's Fall). It is often believed that the other Ladoroth banished him for his cruelty and evil, for although Oratyr may not come from those white doors, he is still feared as one of the greatest travesties that can strike. Oratyr is gargantuan, in fact some scholars speculate that he is the largest of the Ladoroth. He is a monstrous creature that walks on all fours, has the head of a bull, a mutated human-like body with fleshly bulbous extrusions. Black hair bristles out from all his limbs which are like those of an ape and from his back is a swirling mass of fleshy and muscle-bound tentacles. His drool is a powerful acid and white pus extrudes from his many open sores. The Beast is known to live in the Bone Gardens of Oratyr, a massive jungle of white bone-like trees full of other likewise fleshy horrors. When Oratyr attacks the civilized world he often carries off the survivors of his attacks and takes them back to his gardens in the south. Amyph the Dark Prophet A Ladoroth that appears as a giant raven with the face of an upside-down woman's. Her eyes are of a bright yellow and when she leaves the lands behind the Helseraphi Mountains she visits peoples dreams. In these dreams she shows the individual how he or she dies. The way of death is irrelevant but the result is always the same--death. When she has finished her culling and dream-telling, the bodies of those that died rise up from the dead as thralls with black blood bleeding from all their orifices. The thralls then offer themselves to her at the Godsguard Gates where she one by one devours them in her upside-down maw. Vinisa the Temptress of Envy and Lust Vinisa takes on the form of the most beautiful maiden ever concieved. It is often believed that her form changes depending on who is looking at her but by all accounts she is said to resemble a voluptuous young woman. All those that look upon her, men and women alike, are filled with unsatible envy and lust for and against those closest to them. Entire cities have fallen like wildfire as she gracefully walks through the streets sowing her madness in people. The result of her strikes are always the same--a gruesome and violent orgy of depravity and eventual death. Uldameus, the Architect of Bones Ever with a serene and vacant look in his milky white eyes, Uldameus is a Ladoroth that takes the form of a bald, hairless, and skinless giant. He walks calmly across the land with his exposed tendons and bones before all. When Uldameus attacks the peoples of Crestas he often hypnotizes individuals with his soulless gaze. While under his spell, one slowly loses all apparent sanity and generally suffers from extreme paranoia and graphomania before succumbing to state of speaking only in tongues. At the final stages of the spell, the hypnotized individual obsessively tries to build grand structures that are depicted in elaborate and overly complex diagrams. Unfortunately, these projects undertaken by the slaves of Uldameus are never completed as the materials used to build these structures end up becoming the builder's own bones. The final result of one taken in by the gaze of Uldameus is a bloody and terrific mess of stained maps and the self-destroyed remains of the Ladoroth's victims. Arazul, the Night's Sorrow On the loneliest and darkest of nights, one can occasionally hear the mournful an enchanting song of Arazul. The lyrics of this Ladoroth's song are utterly alien to any language known to the people of Crestas but nearly all that hear his voice fall into a great gloom. When Arazul descends on the land, he appears only at night and takes the form of a great white wolf. Always moving with a limp, the Ladoroth is forever wounded with twelve arrows protruding from his bleeding hide. Those that hear Arazul's song tend to fall into an unnatural melancholy during the day and only display excitement or energy during the dead of night. With time, those affected by Arazul will turn adverse to the sun and retreat further and further into the night. Sleep becomes tiresome and eventually those under Arazul's song will hear only his music, even when he is nowhere to be found. The lasting result of Arazul's magic is a slow death where one can no longer sleep and he or she deteriorates entirely his or her body and mind fall apart from the inability to know rest, joy, or light.